Since we have a lot of new users over here I though it would be good to post this on the forum. Plus I am kind of proud of my new baby :lol: I now own a S9 and S40. The downside to both of these guns is that their finish is kind of a dull matte black that has some dark green mixed in. I always wished they had more of a Satin black finish like the M series guns. I had my S40 refinished by Mac's Shooting Irons last year. I really wanted to find a brighter more shiny finish. I have heard a ton of good things about Trip Research and their great hard chrome finish. They also have one of the fastest turn around times I have ever seen. I mailed on a Friday and got my gun back the next Saturday. The job they did on my Steyr is nothing short of spectacular!! They obviously knew what they were doing becuase they took every single bit of the slide apart and made it look like it came from the factory chromed. If you are tired of a black gun think about using TR they are one of the best. They charged me $70 for the chrome job and $10 for shipping. Here are some pics not all show the chrome some were just cool looking.
A few more pics I hope this gives a little better idea how nice this pistol looks overall. It is really hard to take pictures of a slide that reflects so much light. Also it looks like you might have sent in the action carrier also. Did you have the take down lever and the barrel refinished also? The only thing that was finished was the slide. While I would have like to do some of the other small parts it didn't occur to me at the time I shipped it out to ask if they could do the small stuff as well as the slide. These last two pics I took to show the contrast between the Chrome Steyr and my custom XD9 5". The XD is finished with Gun Kote. It is a spray on polymer finish. If you want to read more about the XD Click here for the link to http://www.xdtalk.com Here is a pic with my S40. It was refinished with a polymer finish from Mac's Shooting Irons of AZ.
very nice. I had my 1911 chromed by tripp years ago. It has been holding up very well. Hard chrome is a great finish that is very wear resistant
On the underside of the slide I took one of my punches and a small hammer and tapped on it a few times. I couldn't believe how hard that chrome is! It didn't even leave a mark.
i like it alot.. time to polish that barrel.. see my thread, just took and posted new pix today. im gonna have to follow your footsteps.. i like the hard chrome..
I got mine back from Tripp yesterday. You may remember what my M9 looked like from the "grip" photos. It looks better than new. Really classy. My 1911 is going next and my back-up M9 when it returns. I'm impressed. I'll try to get photos posted this week. Tripp was absolutely great to do business. I highly recommend them. Sturm, Thanks for the encouragement!
IDPA you know we are expecting to see some pics of you Steyr. I am glad you had such good luck with them. I have a few other guns I am planning on sending them.
I cannot get over how good that finish looks. The extreme closeups really do justice to the quality of the work. Outstanding. I think I may consider getting this done to my M9 & S9 at some point. Maybe they'd give me a multi-slide discount....lol. Seriously, though - it looks amazing. Any idea how the finish is applied? Because it does seem to have a brushed-look to it, almost like stainless. Any idea if they could leave parts black? For example, I think a chromed slide with the "valleys" of the ridges (used to grip & rack the slide) left black would look sick.
I don't know what finish you have on your S9, but My M9 has the really nice gloss black finish. If I were you I would send them S9 slide and see if you like it. It was probably the best $80 I ever spent. The workmanship is so top notch I can't even believe how nice it looks.
I too don't like the 'greenish tinge" my S has compared to my M. I was considering some kind of GunKote or DiamondKote. I'm not too sure about the uberflashiness of the HC for a CCW piece though, and was considering more of a pearl gray finish. If tripps work is that great do they do other finishes? I'll go look when I'm done here.
Tripp also does a polymer coating several years ago, he did my duty 1911 . Chrome frame and black slide. The gun is stainless. It's been about 4 years and the slide is getting to need a refinish. Go to http://www.trippresearch.com he has kobracoat. Tripp doesn't do a high polish chrome, he will do matte or brusged. The M series would look great with a matte slide.
Thanks for the info. I'm definetly having this done on the XD-40 I just picked up. and I'm debating on doing to either my S-9 or the M9 I'm buying next week.
used the contact page at tripps website. Posed these questions.... After hardchroming the slide of a Steyr S9 for a forum member over at Steyrclub.com you guys have gotten some great reviews and several members have expressed intentions to send their slides into your company. I however do not really care for the "bling" of hardchrome, does tripp research offr a "Black Chrome" finnish? Or should I go w/ a metalic grey polymer? I'm not really worried about the added protection of chrome, as the metal is all tennifer treated, but for a everyday carry gun I do hear that polymer doesn't offer the lasting durablilty of chrome against holster marking. For some reason the slide finishes on S series pistols are different from those of M series pistols, and as much as our little community loves their Steyrs a lot of people don't like the greenish/grayish parkerizing on the S. Being tennifer treated this is entirely a cosmetic taste though. what are the prices on a slide only job like for a steyr or glock, and what is the current turnaround? what color options are there for the polymer cobra coat? I look forward to your response and will post both this communication and your reply in a thread we are having concerning refinishing options.
Resurection I still carry this S9 whenever I can. I live in WI so I can only carry when I am in MN. This S9 has been performing flawlessly ever since I got it These pics were so sweet I had to bring this one back up.
Thanks! Thanks for revisiting this! I hadn't dug this deep into the archives, and just love your pix. Now thinking about refinish options for my S9...
For some reason the S series pistols seem to have a crappy finish. My M series have more of a Glossy satin finish that is very nice. This shiny Chrome is very sweet. Every time I have the opportunity to show my carry piece to someone they tell me it looks like a pimp gun. I just smile and say thanks.
Very nice hard chrome finish I think I've found a customization I'm going to do to my M9. My Kimber will get to visit tripp as well. They will both look great with hard chrome finished slides. If I ever get my CZ kadet kit for my 75B, I think I'll have it hard chromed also, not to mention a 40P. They both come with a black polycoat. Thanks for the website. It will be very useful. I'll send the M9 slide and kimber slide together to save on shipping. If I ever get my kimber back from the gunsmith.
